Press Release: Community Action Calls National Penn Bank Move to Downtown Allentown “The Ultimate Co

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      CONTACT:  Alan L. Jennings  610-248-9900

Early this morning, National Penn Bancshares CEO Scott Fainor announced that the company will move its headquarters to downtown Allentown in 2014. The bank will bring hundreds of employees to the city, occupying several floors in City Center Two.  The building will be constructed on the northeast corner of Seventh and Hamilton streets where a building once occupied by First National Bank of Allentown is being demolished.

The Community Action Lehigh Valley  has long worked with the region’s banks to ensure the Lehigh Valley’s lower-income families and their neighborhoods gain access to credit, which is the intent of the Community Reinvestment Act passed by the United States Congress in 1977.  According to Alan Jennings, Executive Director of Community Action, CRA is one of the most effective tools for creating economic opportunity in the country.  Jennings issued the following statement in response to the announcement by Fainor.

“This morning’s announcement by National Penn Bankshares CEO Scott Fainor may be the most important “community reinvestment act” in decades. The decision represents another big victory for the Neighborhood Improvement Zone.  The bank’s action shouts out its bullishness on Allentown and the region. In an era when too many people are cynical about the motives behind others decisions, this decision is clearly one in which the bank sees an opportunity to gain a big return on its investment, building its deposit base and expanding its lending.  In other words, the bank sees an opportunity to make money. Nothing could be better for Allentown and the region: it will create jobs where they are most needed, strengthen the livelihood of downtown businesses, create wealth that will spill over to the neighborhood, and improve access to credit.  The best community development program is called “profit” and we hope that lots of other investors join the effort. 

“We congratulate the bank for yet another bold investment in downtown Allentown.  We thank NIZ pioneer Senator Pat Browne for his creativity, both the senator and Representative Jennifer Mann for their legislative success, Mayor Ed Pawlowski for his perseverance and focus on the city’s needs and City Center principles J.B. Reilly and Joe Topper for their ability to effectively capitalize on an opportunity, even when it means swimming upstream.”

Jennings serves on the Board of Directors of the Allentown Neighborhood Investment Zone Development Authority.  He stressed that he was not representing ANIZDA in making this statement.

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